41岁的乔•拉波索是游戏《星佳城市》（CityVille）的质检主管，这款游戏由社交游戏公司Zynga开发，玩家可在游戏中运作管理一座虚拟城市。拉波索带领团队为这款热门的社交游戏排查故障之余还有一份非比寻常的“第二职业”：担任Lagwagon乐队的贝斯手。这支来自南加州的朋克乐队拥有7张录音专辑，粉丝忠实，巡演不断。（他和乐队最近刚刚从长达一个月的欧洲巡演归来。）

    这个土生土长的硅谷人曾经在世嘉（Sega）、索尼（Sony）和美国艺电（Electronic Arts）从事过游戏测试工作。他在90年代的时候加入过数支朋克乐队，并在2010年加盟Lagwagon乐队，顶替刚刚退出的贝斯手。他分别所属的两个世界，可能会在本月进行一次比较正式的激情碰撞。拉波索正在与他所在的另一支乐队King City商量，打算趁公司下班后，在Zynga公司的草坪上举办他们的首场小型现场演出。拉波索抽空接受了《财富》杂志（Fortune ）专访，就如何在全职工作与激情爱好之间保持平衡发表了自己的看法，并描述了坚固两者带来的种种益处。

    《财富》：有些人拥有稳定工作，同时又渴望做其它事情，而这些事情又比较耗时，你对这些人有什么建议？

    乔•拉波索：首先一条是找一家理解你的公司。我之所以喜欢Zynga的工作，就是因为只要你做的事有创意，他们就真心实意地支持你，呵护你。然后，你要协调两者的关系，既要同时兼顾两份工作，又要双双获得成绩。

    另外还有一个基本要素，要做好辞职的心理准备。这并不容易做到。只有某一类人才能做到（两者兼顾）。并非每个人都能做到这一点，它绝对不适合心理脆弱的人。所以，如果打算这么干，最好做好准备，因为它绝非易事。但是如果你果真能做到这一点，将处处是鲜花。

    这似乎是一个艰难的抉择。

    这曾经是一个艰难的决定。我并不想让公司认为我的心已经不在那儿了。人们很容易产生这样的联想。我曾经在得到工作时告诉对方我想做音乐，结果我没能成为全职员工，因为他们觉得“这家伙没打算呆在这儿。他定不下来。”

    一开始，我真的很犹豫要不要告诉公司我想参加巡演。我真的害怕提出要求。但是我的女友说服了我，让我知道自己别无选择。是她给了我信心，我终于找到老板，提出自己的想法。当我如愿以偿时，她给予了全力支持，她为我兴奋，为我感到高兴。

    Joe Raposo, 41, works for Zynga as the quality assurance lead on the game CityVille, which lets players run and develop a virtual metropolis. But when Raposo is not leading a team that finds and fixes bugs in the popular social game, he's got an uncommon moonlighting gig: Raposo is the bassist for Lagwagon, a Southern California punk band with seven studio albums, a loyal following and a regular touring schedule. (He and the band recently returned from a month-long European tour.)

    The Silicon Valley native has held video game testing jobs at Sega, Sony (SNE) and Electronic Arts (ERTS). Playing in several punk bands during the 90s, he joined Lagwagon in 2010 to replace its departing bassist. His two worlds may collide more formally this month. Rasposo and his other band King City are in talks to play their first gig on the Zynga (ZNGA) campus during a company happy hour.

    Raposo took some time to talk to Fortune about balancing the pursuit of both a full-time career and an outside passion, and the advantages of doing both.

    What's your advice to those who have steady jobs, but are also tempted to do other time-consuming things?

    First rule is just to get with a company that understands your situation. I love working at Zynga because they really support anything you do on the creative side, and they nurture that. Then come to some sort of agreement where you're able to do both and be productive at both.

    You have to be ready to quit a job, basically. And that's a hard thing to do. It takes a certain type of person [to pursue both]. It's not for everybody and it's definitely not for the faint of heart. So if you're going to do this, you better be ready because it's not the easiest thing to do. But if you can, there are great rewards all the way around.

    It sounds like a difficult conversation.

    It was a hard decision. I didn't want them to think my commitment wasn't there anymore. And it's easy for people to think that way. I've had jobs before where I've told them I wanted to do music, and I didn't get opportunities to become a full-time employee because they thought, "This guy is just never going to be here. He's going to be a flake."

    At first, I was really hesitant to tell work that I wanted to tour. I was really scared to ask. But my girlfriend convinced me that I had to do it. So she gave me the confidence to go to my manager and ask. And when I finally did, she was super receptive about it. And she was stoked and happy for me.

    在时间安排上，你是如何一边巡演一边完成工作的？

    去年我在欧洲进行了巡演，由于当时正在度假期间，所以没有工作任务。但是我随身带着电脑。虽然欧洲有时差，但是我一旦上了网事实上就能工作了。在这种技术行业，只要能用VPN（虚拟专用网络）上网，无论在哪里都可以工作。

    我再次开始巡演时，一切也都很顺利，因为我能在工作了8小时之后，再去进行校音和小型现场演出的工作，有时候演出结束以后我甚至还能上上网，帮我的团队解决问题。我有Zynga的Aircard无线上网卡，这样一来，即使在巡演途中，我也照样可以在车中工作。当然，无网可上或难以上网的日子也是有的。巡演过程中会常常因故暂停，这时候别人为了解闷会找些事做，而我则会工作。

    乐队成员会给你难堪吗？

    这些家伙有时候很讨厌。他们看着我整日用电脑，而我工作时真的很投入。如果和别人以及员工进行视频谈话，我会一连几个小时呆在电脑前。这时，他们会说：“哥们，把那破玩意扔掉。快来喝酒吧，”乔伊•凯普（Lagwagon乐队的主唱）每隔一会儿就会跑来对我说：“哥们，你玩这个的最好成绩是多少分？”

    你玩乐队经验给你领导团队带来哪些启示？

    乐队是个民主的大家庭。要工作就要有秩序。得敞开心扉接受其它思想。加盟乐队完全是个人行为。但是必须抛开个人对事物的看法。这一上来很难做到，但是一旦做到了，就会打开你与别人协同创作的大门，就会灵思泉涌。

    音乐创作与游戏开发有什么相同点？

    两者都得发挥创造力，不断改变，不断学习。作曲的主要任务就是尽可能创作出最好的作品。它总是充满挑战，无论做了什么或写了什么，无论制作了什么，总是能够不断找到可以进一步完善的地方。所以，一切都是学习过程。我在写歌的时候会去听自己以前写的作品，然后尽量找出自己那时不太喜欢的地方。领导团队也一样。想想我们过去哪个地方搞砸了？哪个地方疏忽了？我们怎样才能避免这些问题再次出现？

    你在台上的时候是否还会想着工作？

    不，完全不会。一旦关掉电脑，上路巡演，我就会忘掉工作。这时我通常会喝几盅尊美醇威士忌（Jameson），灌几罐啤酒。我会拿起贝斯练一会儿，让自己进入表演状态。这其实也是一种解压。我的精神获得了彻底的放松，这样当我回到工作时，就可以做到100%的投入。我可以进入忘我的状态，然后又回归现实。

    Logistically, how do you get any work done while you're on the road?

    I did a tour last year in Europe, and I wasn't supposed to work because I was on vacation. But I took my computer with me. And even though there's a time difference in Europe, when I logged on, I actually helped out. In this tech field, where I can VPN into a network, I can work from anywhere.

    When I went on tour again, it worked out really well because I was able to put in eight hours a day and still do sound check and the gig, and sometime even get back online after the show and help the team out. I have an Aircard [Internet connection device] through Zynga, and I'm able to work in the tour van while we're cruising. Of course, there are some days where you don't have a connection and you have issues getting online. There's a lot of downtime while on tour, and everyone else is trying to do things to keep busy so they're not bored. For me, I'm just working.

    Do your band mates give you a hard time?

    The guys give me shit sometimes. They see me working on my computer, and my job is really in-depth. If I'm Skyping people and stuff, I'm on my computer for hours. They'll say, "Dude, you've got to throw that fucking thing away. Drink some beer with us." Joey Cape [Lagwagon's lead singer] likes to come in every once in a while and go, "Hey, what's your high score on that thing, dude?"

    How has being in a band taught you how to lead a team?

    When you're in a band, it's a democracy. It has to be in order to work. You've got to be open to ideas. It's a very personal thing, being in a band. You have to let your personal opinion about things go. That's a hard thing to do at first, but once you do, it opens up the floodgates to being super creative with other people.

    How is creating music similar to working on a game?

    You're using creativity and constantly changing and learning. When you're songwriting, you're basically trying to make a product that is the best it can be. It's always challenging, and no matter what you do, no matter what you write, no matter what you program or make, you can always make it better. So everything is a learning experience. When I'm writing music, I listen to what I'd written before and try to take the things out that I didn't like about it. It's the same thing leading a team. Where did we mess up in the past? Where did we slip? How do we not let that happen again?

    Do you ever find yourself thinking about work while you're on stage?

    No, not at all. When I shut down my computer and I'm on the road, I'm done with work. That's usually the time that I start taking shots of Jameson and drinking a couple of beers. I grab my bass and start practicing a little bit and I get in the mode of performing. It's actually a great release, too. It frees my spirit enough that I can come back to work and hit it 100%. I can let myself go, then come back to reality.